Noob with problems, what's new?

Well, yes, I am a noob here.....and I have a problem. Not too PC literate, I know enough to get myself into trouble. Problem is, while surfing on the internet I can pretty much do whatever I want, but as I try to sign onto hotmail or log into ebay.....I get "connection refused" responses, I have tried different browsers, clearing history, cookies, the usual and still stuck with the same things....help?

 

Is this from work or school? If from home, are you going through some sort of proxy server?

 

Home computer, DSL. Had a router installed until it went toes up....all was working fine until one day.....poof.....no login abilities....

 

I would look at a Winsock issue for a start.